


Listen to the Beat

by hinatawhoas



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Death, Heartbeats, M/M, POV First Person, Sad Ending, oh god why did i write this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-23
Updated: 2013-10-22
Packaged: 2017-12-30 05:18:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1014588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hinatawhoas/pseuds/hinatawhoas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jean had a horrible nightmare that made him keep watch over his best friend (more like crush), Marco. Little did he know that that nightmare was just about to become real.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. His Comforting Heartbeat

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote most of chapter 1 at two in the morning, so it'll probably be kinda weird-sounding. But anyways, here's my first fic in forever.  
> I legit cried while writing this so be prepared, everyone

I quickly sat up, pushing the hair away from my sweaty face as I tried catching my breath, frantically glancing around at my surroundings. I couldn't see anything. All I could see was the darkness of the night. I looked over at the bed next to me, which is where Marco slept. Oh, thank God, he's okay. He looked so peaceful.. well, at least from what I can see in this stupid darkness. But what I can see is that he looks _damn_ cute while sleeping. Marco must be having a dream, unlike I was.

God, that was a terrible nightmare. So much shit happened and it was all too fast for me.. But anyways, let's forget about that. I stared over at Marco, able to see some of the freckles on his face in the dim moonlight. You know, his freckles were always cute to me, even if he didn't like them. 

Marco shifted a little in his sleep, turning the other way with a small groan. I smiled a little, trying to rid my mind of that stupid dream. I laid back down with a small sigh, staring up at the bottom of the bunk above me. I was still really tired, but I didn't think I could fall asleep again tonight.   
Though, surprisingly enough, I did. I slowly drifted back into dreamland, hugging a pillow close to my body.

When I woke up the next time, it was morning. Good, I slept through the rest of the night without that dream coming back.  
I looked around the room, seeing some of the others were gone, yet some were still there, laying lazily in their beds. Some people get up real early and go outside to get some air, yet some go out in the mornings just to see the sun rise or something. Sunrises are for babies like Jäeger to go see. 

But something was odd. I looked over at the bed next to me and.. wait, Marco's gone! He never wakes up this early. I blinked, glancing around the room before getting up to look for him. I need go see if he's alright.. You can never be too careful, can you? I swiftly checked all around the area, finally finding him near a balcony. "Marco!" I suddenly shouted, having no control over how loud that was. I ran up to him and wrapped my arms around him and pulled him into a hug. "Whoa, Jean! Are you alright?" he had asked me. I nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just seeing if you were." Marco nodded as well. "I'm fine.. Why?"

".. Well, I, uh.. I had this weird dream.."   
"Really? Mind telling me?"  
Ugh, here we go. I don't want to have to even think about my dream, but come on, this is Marco. I've gotta tell him.   
"Well.. there was another titan attack. Another wall got breached and there were titans everywhere." I let out a small sigh before continuing. "I started to run out of gas in my gear so I was down on the streets, running as fast as I could. Then, I bumped into you. Your gear ran out of gas too..

"We hid in a house since there were some titans chasing the both of us.. It was fine for a while, but then the titan broke into the house and.." I couldn't continue.

I just let out a sigh then rested my head on Marco's chest. He wrapped his arms around me comfortingly and gently started to stroke my hair. "It's okay, Jean.. I'm fine! There hasn't been any major titan attacks in a few weeks, so I think it's alright." Marco always chose the most comforting words when he spoke. That's what I love about him.

I just nodded, just resting as a silence quickly fell on top of us.   
If I listen close enough, I think I can hear Marco's heartbeat.. Well, at least this proves he's still alive. His heartbeat was soft and calm and almost mesmerizing..  
"Uh, Jean? You can let go now." he let out a small chuckle, letting go of me. "Oh, right, sorry." I let go too, standing up straight.

Marco flashed his million dollar smile at me, so of course, I had to smile back. My smile was cool and all, yeah, but it could never beat Marco's smile. His smile was big, friendly, and 100% real, unlike most people's. It was still pretty silent in here until the sound of quick footsteps appeared and started to get louder and louder..

I turned my head to see what it was, but there in the doorway stood a guard, the look of fear on his face. "Titans have breached another wall! Get your gear and move out!" After that, the guard left. I stood there, blinking in shock as I turned back to Marco. "Another titan attack?" I said in a shocked voice. I shook my head in denial. _"No, no, no, no.."_ Fuck, this can't be happening! No, I've gotta protect Marco no matter what. I can't let my dream come true.


	2. Please Don't Take My Sunshine Away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All Jean and Marco can do at this point is hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> o h god here comes the sad I'm so sorry   
> I cried while writing this part, I hope you know

After Marco and I grabbed our gear and got prepared, we headed out with all the others. I stayed as close as I could to Marco, keeping my eyes on him at all times just to make sure nothing happens to him. I even followed him around while we zipped around on our 3d maneuver gear, determined to keep my dream from coming true.

There weren't a lot of titans around, but most of them were around the hole they breached. Many headed that way, but I just kept following Marco. But after a while, I lost him. _Ugh, how did I even lose him?_ I frantically looked around after hearing the faint sound of titan footsteps. Oh, god, where in hell did he go? Fuck, time to find him again.   
I zipped around, calling out Marco's name and ran across rooftops. _Why is it so easy to lose him?_

I kept going, though soon my gear started to not work too well. Is it already running out of gas? I groaned, but kept going. I need to find Marco before it runs out. Though, after maybe two minutes, my gear ran out of gas and I fell to the ground. Thankfully, I wasn't too high up at that moment, so I didn't get hurt too badly. I let out a loud, angry groan, getting up off my ass and just continued to search for him on foot. Still no luck, though. It's just impossible to find him right now. I'm sure he's fine..

Behind me, I started to hear the footsteps of a titan quickly nearing me. I turned my head and looked up, seeing it was pretty much running in my direction. I silently gasped, then started running as fast as I could in the other direction. Fuck, I really don't want to be doing this right now. I just need to find Marco. 

The titan grew closer and closer to me, running in such a stupid way that it made me tempted to laugh, but I just couldn't. I can't laugh at a time like this. My best friend is missing, a titan is chasing me at full speed, and who knows what other shit's happened. I kept running, constantly looking back and forth between the titan behind me and what was in front of me. _God, why was it so fast?_

I was getting so tired of running and being on my feet, but I had to keep going. If I stopped, I'm sure I'd get eaten. I kept going as fast as I could, until I felt myself hit something that was ahead of me.

I fell forward, landing on top of whatever I had hit and obviously fell over with me. I looked down, blinking as I stared at the familiar face below me.   
"Marco!" I smiled, though my mood immediately changed to _"oh shit"_ after seeing that there was yet another titan, though this time in front of me. Me and Marco sandwiched between two angry titans running right at us. This was surely the end for us..

But suddenly, Marco pushed me off of him and quickly stood, taking my hand and dragging me inside of a house then closing the door behind us before sitting down in a dark room. He closed the shades, then sat down under the window with me. ".. Jean, are you alright?" Marco asked me, seeing my face and clothes were a little dirty from when I fell. "Yeah, I'm fine. Are you?" I had replied. Marco just nodded.

I could tell he wasn't okay, though. His face was scratched up and bloody, one of his sleeves were ripped, and it looked like he lost his gear. ".. Did you run out of gas too, Marco?" I questioned him, my eyes examining all the injuries he had on his body. "Yeah, that's why I was on foot." 

"Are you sure you're alright?" I asked, seeing more of the injuries he had. He was a mess and I couldn't even see his freckles through all the dirt, blood, and scratches..  
Marco just nodded slowly, resting against the wall, his eyes getting droopy. Must be tired from all the running he was doing. "Hold on. Just stay right there." I told him as I got up, hurrying to look for a rag and some water. I need to clean him up so none of his cuts get infected. I searched around the house for cleaning and medical stuff, and found almost exactly what I was looking for: a rag, water, and some bandages. I hurried over to Marco and started to clean him up.

He sat still for the most part, but flinched sometimes when I put the rag over one of his cheeks. I bandaged him up good, cleaning the dirt off until he was good again.   
"Do you think they're still out there..?" Marco had asked me, glancing up at the window above his head. I listened carefully. I'm sure that if they were still out there, we would be able to hear their footsteps. The only thing we were able to hear was a faint scream from off in the distance. Someone probably died.. like usual. You can't just go out there and not die. That's not how it works.

I sat back down with him as soon as I set the rag and water bowl aside, sighing as I looked up at the ceiling. And that's when I realized that this was all too familiar. Both me and Marco running out of gas, the titans, Marco pulling me into a house.. _no._ This is almost exactly like my dream. Why? Why did it have to be like this? Why did I have to have that dream? If this is really my dream, then I'm about to lose Marco, my best friend. I looked over at him, seeing him looking off into space. I gently wrapped my arms around him and held him close, being careful of all his wounds.

He looked at me as I laid my head down on his chest, putting my ear over where his heart should be. I could hear the soft beat, though it was louder than before. Probably because he had just been running and now we're pretty much about to die. I listened closely, thinking _He's still alive.. He's still alive.._ in my head as I did. Marco moved his hand up to start stroking and petting my hair, running his fingers through it to comfort me. ".. Marco?" I suddenly spoke.

"What is it?" he blinked down at me. I kept my head in the same place so I could still hear his heart beat. ".. Do you think we're going to die?"

Marco was silent for a moment before responding. "I don't know.. I hope not." Hoping is really all we can do.. We can just hope that the titans ignore this house. We can just hope they didn't see us hurry inside..

It's just then that I realized I was about to cry. Tears were forming in my eyes as I listened to the _thump, thump_ of Marco's heart.   
Hoping is all we can do.

That is when tears started to run down my face. I didn't even care if he heard me, I just want to be held by Marco until the end. He held me closer, leaning down a little to place a soft kiss on the top of my head. Normally, that would have surprised me, but not now. I'm too busy thinking about how we're about to die and how there's no way either of us will survive.

"Shh.. it's okay.." Marco whispered to me in a comforting voice. I could tell there were tears in his eyes as well. His heart was still beating softly, though got quicker. I guess that happens when you're sad and scared..

Then suddenly, I could hear Marco's voice but.. was he singing? He definitely was.  
 _"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.."_ he sang. I know it was supposed to calm me down, but it only made me cry more. _"You make me happy when skies are grey.."_  
 _"You never know, dear, how much I love you.."_ Oh, god, now I really am crying. I gripped onto Marco's jacket, my head still over where his heart was.   
With the last line, I could hear his voice crack. He was definitely crying now.  
 _"Please don't take my sunshine away..."_

Marco stopped singing after that line, probably because he was really crying now. I finally lifted my head up to look at him, tears streaming down both of our faces. I leaned forward and placed a kiss on his lips, tears still falling onto our warm cheeks. If it all were to end now, at least it would end with us being together.. I'm glad he's with me right now.

We kissed longer than I thought we would, the kissing getting deeper and deeper as our tears fell faster. After what seemed to be forever, he finally pulled away. ".. I love you, Jean.." Marco whispered, placing his forehead on mine. "I love you too, Marco.." I whispered back. He leaned forward again and placed another quick kiss on my lips before pulling back completely. He was silent for a moment, and I think he was listening to see if there were any footsteps outside. 

I listened too. There's definitely titans out there. At least I would die knowing Marco loved me, and him knowing I loved him back.. but I just wish we had a chance. If we had a choice to make it out alive, we could probably date and actually do couple things.. but now, all we can do is _hope._

The word _"hope"_ repeated in my head. There clearly was no _"hope"_ for us. None at all.   
The titan footsteps were drawing closer, soon sounding like they were right there, right in front of the house. I tightly held onto Marco, my head back to resting on his chest so I could hear his beautiful heartbeat until the end..

Words started to pour out of my mouth as tears started to fall down my face once again. "Marco, I love you and I have for a long time now.. I don't want it to end like this. I want to live a happy life with you by my side, but not as a friend. As my boyfriend. I've always wanted to be yours. You've got the cutest freckles, the most beautiful smile, and the best laugh. I don't want this to end. I want us to get out. Maybe one day we'll even get married.." I continued rambling on and on, until Marco stopped me. "I love you too, Jean.. and we will get out together.."

"You're just saying that to cheer me up.. We're never going to get out alive. The only door in this house is the front one and there's a hungry titan out there. We have no gear so it's not like we can even try to fight it.." 

After I said that, Marco went silent. I sighed, continuing to listen to the quickening heartbeat of his. _"Please don't take my sunshine away.."_ he whispered, staring off.   
And that's when I heard the crash. The titan had broken the roof of the house on the other side of the room. We watched the debris fall onto the wooden floor, then we saw the titan through the hole. It was looking right at us. This truly was the end for us. 

Marco only held me tighter, whispering to me. "Just listen to the beat of my heart.. Don't think about anything else. Just my heartbeat." I did just that. I listened closely, trying to block out all sound except for Marco. 

I heard his voice, and he began to sing again. He sang the same song as last time, but louder as he started crying more. _"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.. You make me happy when skies are grey.."_ his words were breathy and full of sorrow. _"You never know, dear, how much I love you.."_ The titan destroyed more of the house, getting closer and closer to where we were before it finally got to us. 

_"Please don't take my sunshine away.."_


End file.
